


dazzling light

by princejoonie



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Character Study, Childhood Friends, Coming Out, Coming of Age, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Growing Up Together, Idiots in Love, Internalized Homophobia, Jongho and San are so done with their shit, M/M, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Slice of Life, Wooyoung is the sun and Yeosang is the moon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23366293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princejoonie/pseuds/princejoonie
Summary: In Yeosang’s eyes, Wooyoung was the sun. He was everything that Yeosang didn’t feel like he was; bright, bubbly, energetic and endlessly cheerful to the point where he practically glowed.And to Wooyoung, Yeosang was the moon. He glistened with a gentle shimmer rather than a striking blaze, but was equally captivating. His features were soft and delicate in a way that seemed otherworldly, because no mortal soul could possibly be so intensely beautiful.or;The sun and the moon were in love long before they even knew what the word meant.
Relationships: Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang
Comments: 13
Kudos: 101





	dazzling light

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This was supposed to be a short character study, maybe 4k words max, but it turned into this 11k collection of snippets looking into Yeosang and Wooyoung's lives growing up, coming to terms with sexuality and pining. This has taken me a good two months to write because I'm really not a fast writer, but this is the first time I've written something over 8k words for fun so I'm quite proud of myself !!  
> I really hope you enjoy, thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> xx

In Yeosang’s eyes, Wooyoung was the sun.

He was everything that Yeosang didn’t feel like he was; bright, bubbly, energetic and endlessly cheerful to the point where he practically glowed. He had the kind of smile that stretched across and lit up his entire face, showing off all of his perfect teeth and pushing up his cheeks, scrunching his eyes into little half-moons. And when he laughed, it was a fit of high-pitched giggles that had him clapping his hands in delight, and made Yeosang want to pinch his cheeks a little bit. Sometimes when Wooyoung was smiling and laughing, Yeosang would shove a hand in his face and murmur “too bright” because it felt like he was staring into the face of the sun with how positively dazzling he was. Wooyoung would just laugh harder and try to bite his fingers.

When Jung Wooyoung was in the room, oh boy you knew. Eyes lingered on him as he walked by and he totally basked in it, sashaying through the university corridors and radiating confidence with every step. However, it was in a way that you couldn’t be pissy at him for being too full of himself because anyone with working eyes could see he was undeniably very sexy with his smooth, golden skin, slim but toned figure (damn him and his beautiful dancer body) and flawlessly styled hair that seemed to be a different colour every other month (every one suiting him perfectly, obviously). Currently, his hair was a soft lilac colour that he had begun regularly pairing with a smokey, purple tinged eyeshadow, making his eyes somehow even more alluring, and therefore Yeosang’s poor, gay heart even more weak.

Yeosang thought that Wooyoung shined the brightest when he was dancing. He still remembered them as kids playing in Yeosang’s back garden and Wooyoung would try to get him to sing along whilst he span and pranced about. Yeosang would glare and vehemently refuse until Wooyoung grabbed his hands, gazing at him with those wide, sparkly eyes and lips jutted into a pout. Needless to say, he always relented and was pulled into a reluctant rendition of whatever song Wooyoung insisted on. It was a technique that Wooyoung still regularly pulled to convince him to do things. He wanted to say he was immune to it by now, and that a twenty year old man giving puppy dog eyes just looked a bit funny, but that would be a lie. Unbelievably, Wooyoung was still incredibly cute to the point where it was enraging (he once called Jongho and spent half an hour complaining about how Wooyoung had the audacity to have such soft cheeks and pouty lips, and then swore him to secrecy).

Anyway, dancing.

Wooyoung started dance lessons when they were eight years old. His mother enrolled him in a weekly ballet class and he would turn up to school the next day beaming and ready to show off the new moves that he had learnt. Once, he tried to teach Yeosang the five basic ballet positions, which went great until fourth position when he had to cross his legs awkwardly and lost his balance, sending him sprawling into the grass. Grumbling, Yeosang sat there curled up and refused to look at Wooyoung, rubbing his chin that he had bumped on the ground and determinedly forcing any tears not to build. After a few soft calls of his name, Wooyoung plopped down next to him with those same sparkly eyes, thinking for a moment before lurching forwards and kissing Yeosang’s chin clumsily.

“There!” He grinned proudly as the other boy stared at him in shock. “I kissed it better so it’s all okay now right?”

“Ah Wooyoungie, you’re so embarrassing.” Yeosang mumbled touching his chin lightly, his eyebrows furrowed.

Wooyoung pouted, “Sangie please don’t look so sad, you don’t need to be good at dancing! I still love you lots even if you fall over.” When Yeosang didn’t answer, he clung onto his arm and gazed up at him worriedly. “Does it still hurt? I can kiss it better again if you want!”

“No.. it’s okay.” He looked up at Wooyoung’s anxious expression and smiled a little. “You made it better, thank you.”

Almost four years passed of Wooyoung taking ballet classes. He adored it, regularly performing to Yeosang in his back garden on the wooden decking that he claimed as his stage. They set up a stereo on the picnic table and Wooyoung would show Yeosang the dances they were working on in class, or just put on a random song and twirl about the decking with increasing elegance and poise, a smile always on his face. Yeosang applauded him every time, quietly complimenting him which made Wooyoung only smile wider. The first time his ballet class had a recital up on the city hall’s stage, Yeosang was front row with his and Wooyoung’s parents and siblings. Whilst he may not know much about dancing, in his humble opinion, he thought Wooyoung danced perfectly.

Wooyoung’s glow on stage only strengthened as the years went by. At age twelve, he started contemporary classes too as per his teacher’s recommendation, and immediately fell in love with the style. Eventually, he began entering competitions, and then winning them, and honestly Yeosang couldn’t be prouder. He recalled the first competition Wooyoung won when he was fourteen. It was a vivid picture in his mind; Wooyoung standing on the stage brimming with pride, eyes shiny with unshed tears and the most elated grin on his lips as he was presented with a trophy. The warm feeling Yeosang felt in his chest looking at Wooyoung was unfamiliar, yet far too familiar at the same time.

They waited in the foyer afterwards for Wooyoung to emerge from the dressing room, a small bouquet of flowers clutched in Yeosang’s hands that he had picked out ahead of arriving at the venue. He heard Wooyoung before he saw him, an excited shriek of “Yeosang!” immediately followed by arms flung around him and hugging him tightly. Once Wooyoung had pulled away, he shyly held out the flowers with a quiet “you did so well.” For a moment, Wooyoung stood there staring at the flowers in surprise and then he was hugging Yeosang again, his face buried in his neck and shoulders shaking. Yeosang could feel his shirt getting slightly damp as he hugged Wooyoung back.

“Thank you so much angel Sangie, thank you for always supporting me and encouraging me,” Wooyoung sniffled.

Yeosang absentmindedly brought one hand up to card his fingers through Wooyoung’s hair lightly, his heart fluttering at the nickname. “I’m proud of you,” He whispered.

Clinging onto him tighter, Wooyoung raised his head to smile at him softly. “Thank you, I love you.”

Wooyoung’s eyes and nose were red, cheeks flushed and streaked with tears and hastily scrubbed off make up, and hair sticking up a little funny at the side. The feeling in Yeosang’s chest only got warmer.

\---

They were fifteen when Wooyoung asked if he could tell Yeosang a secret. It was a Saturday, and the pair were in Wooyoung’s living room playing Mario Kart whilst his parents were out. Yeosang was about to ask sarcastically if it was that he sucked at Mario Kart (to be fair, he had just totally thrashed Wooyoung at the game), but then he noted how fidgety Wooyoung was and thought better of it. Instead, he just nodded, placing his controller down on the coffee table.

“You’ll always love me, right?” Wooyoung picked at a loose thread on the sofa, refusing to meet Yeosang’s eyes. “Like, even if I told you something about me that people might think is a bit weird?”

Vaguely, Yeosang figured he might know where this was going. After all, he was holding what could be a very similar secret. “You are a bit weird anyway,” He told Wooyoung with a playful smirk. “That’s what makes me love you though so it’s okay.”

Wooyoung chuckled nervously, but the tension in his shoulders seemed to relax somewhat. He was silent for a long moment, Yeosang waiting patiently for him to be comfortable enough to speak. Eventually, he took a deep breath and said all in a rush, “I think I’m bisexual. It’s been on my mind a lot lately and I’m pretty sure I like boys as well as girls. I know people find it weird and wrong but it felt weirder to keep it from you and I trust you to be chill about it. So yeah, that’s that.”

He still wouldn’t look up until Yeosang reached forwards and touched his hand, giving him a soft smile when he met his gaze. “There’s nothing wrong with it at all, people are just dumb,” Yeosang said firmly. “I’m glad you could trust me, I…” He trailed off, contemplating whether to tell Wooyoung his secret as well. It wasn’t like he was unsure if he liked boys; he definitely did and he’d known that for a while. Yet somehow, the words that had never before left his mouth still stuck in his throat and he ended up swallowing them down. “I’m proud of you,” He said instead.

The way Wooyoung beamed at him and shifted his hands so they were clasping his gently made that familiar warmth in his chest bloom further.

\---

Wooyoung got his first boyfriend at sixteen. He was in Wooyoung’s contemporary dance classes; a short boy who made up for his height with his outgoing and charming nature and his powerful command of the audience on stage. There were many times when Wooyoung rang Yeosang after his dance class and giggled about how ‘Woong-hyung’ showed off a devastatingly attractive rendition of Chungha’s most recent release, or any other female artist that had taken his fancy.

“He’s so effortlessly beautiful when he dances, Yeosangie,” Wooyoung would gush. “He’s the coolest!”

To be honest, Yeosang didn’t think anyone could dance more beautifully or be cooler than Wooyoung, but he would simply force a laugh and tease him “you’re so whipped for him, Wooyoungie.” Then Wooyoung would chuckle in embarrassment and tell him to shut up, though he would never deny his claim.

However, Yeosang hadn’t realised how close they’d actually gotten until Wooyoung called him one evening and told him Hwanwoong had said yes to going on a date, before proceeding to scream down the phone for five minutes (Yeosang held it a foot away from his face until Wooyoung calmed down). He went to sleep that night with the warmth in his chest being uncomfortable rather than bittersweet, flames burning his heart, and he hated himself for it. Wooyoung’s happiness was the utmost importance to him, far above any selfish feelings Yeosang might hold. Regretfully, Yeosang realised that Wooyoung’s admission of his sexuality the year before had given him a tiny bit of hope. A hope that he didn’t have when Wooyoung was only dating girls, which allowed him to cram his feelings back down to the depths of his heart because he knew that any relationship with him past friendship was impossible, or so he had thought. Perhaps he would’ve gotten somewhere if he actually told Wooyoung he liked boys, but every time he considered it, fear crept up his throat and silenced him.

Wooyoung and Hwanwoong’s relationship lasted two and a half months before the latter respectfully broke it off, apologising because he had become interested in someone else. As Yeosang swaddled Wooyoung in blankets and bought him a tub of ice cream later that evening, his heart aching at Wooyoung’s sobs, he couldn’t help the miniscule relief he also felt and he hated himself more for it.

Over the years, Wooyoung dated more boys and girls. There was Mingi: tall, gorgeous and incredibly lovable, with a heart of pure gold. They lasted four months before a mutual break up and today Mingi was one of their closest friends, so Yeosang held no resentment (as if it was actually possible to hold any sort of negative feelings towards Mingi). Then there was Serim, a cute and excitable girl who matched Wooyoung’s energy perfectly, yet their relationship barely spanned a few weeks. The list went on, Yeosang always being there for Wooyoung at the end of the day, curled up on the sofa with a tub of Wooyoung’s favourite ice cream as he spilled his woes. One time, Wooyoung commented tearfully about how he felt bad that it was always Yeosang supporting him through his breakups and never the other way round. Yeosang just patted his head and said that it was because Wooyoung was a crybaby (Wooyoung hit him with his spoon).

Yeosang’s dating history consisted of only two people. The first was a girl named Yoojung who wrote him a cute confession letter on Valentine’s Day when they were fifteen, and she was so sweet that he was too awkward to reject her (that, and the nagging insistence that dating a girl might make him finally feel something romantic towards a woman). Throughout their short time together, she was so lovely and endlessly patient with him when he was obviously uncomfortable trying to be affectionate. Yeosang wished deeply that he could like her because then perhaps his problems would be solved. He didn’t talk much about her to Wooyoung, partly because he wasn’t sure what he thought of the girl, since he sometimes seemed a bit sulky after Yeosang and Yoojung had hung out. Not that it really mattered; he didn’t know how he’d respond if he was pestered about his relationship (and San asking him about it was more than enough already). A few weeks into dating Yoojung, he let her kiss him goodbye after school behind the science block. He remembered how her lips were soft and tasted a bit like cherries, and thought that he should probably be enjoying it, but he felt nothing. A couple of days later, he broke up with her. Maybe he could’ve kept pretending, but she deserved far better than that.

The second was his friend Jongho (who was a year younger than him in his last year of high school) as he was starting university. He still wasn’t out to anyone at the time, but he was comfortable around Jongho and Jongho was blunt enough to tell Yeosang plainly that he liked him, even with no knowledge of his sexuality. Yeosang was actually really fond of Jongho to the point where he did have a minor crush on him, and so for the first time he managed to force his fear aside enough to let himself try this one thing. They kept their relationship to themselves, and honestly it was nice. Jongho’s parents were kind and didn’t bat an eye when the time Yeosang spent at his house increased significantly. He almost had a heart attack when Jongho’s mother came home unexpectedly and walked in on Jongho attacking him with playful kisses on his lips and cheeks in the living room, but she simply cooed at how cute they were as she passed through to the kitchen. Yeosang still wouldn’t let Jongho kiss him for a week after that, until he calmed enough to assess the situation and realise that there were places he was safe to be truly himself. They dated for almost six months before Yeosang realised guiltily that as much as he liked Jongho, he couldn’t see himself falling in love with him. Love, for him, was still those sparkly eyes and sunshine smile that it had always been.

Jongho was understanding, and looked far less surprised than Yeosang himself when he blurted that he was in love with Wooyoung.

“You look at him like he strung the damn stars in the sky,” Jongho laughed sadly. “I hoped that you would fall more for me eventually, but it’s okay.”

Yeosang’s heart broke a little at Jongho’s wistful expression. “I’m really sorry, I mean it when I say that I like you a lot and I think dating you was one of the best decisions I ever made. You’ve helped me feel far more comfortable with my sexuality than I have ever been, I just…” He trailed off, sighing. “It would be selfish of me to keep going whilst still so attached to Wooyoung.”

“I respect that.” Jongho nodded, and then added timidly. “Besides, he looks at you the same way, you know?”

Yeosang choked. “What- no way- I refuse to believe that,” he narrowed his eyes at Jongho accusingly. “You weren’t observant enough to notice that girl flirting with you the other week so how the hell would you notice something like that?”

“Guess you’re both that obvious.” Jongho smirked at him, then after a moment his expression sobered and he asked more shyly than he had ever heard him. “We’ll still be friends though, right?”

“Please.”

(To this day, Yeosang was still eternally relieved that they had remained friends. Following the awkward post-breakup stage of needing space for a short period, they became close again quickly and Yeosang considered Jongho his best friend after Wooyoung. He wouldn’t want it any other way.)

On the way back to his flat, he found himself calling Wooyoung and asking him to meet him in his room when he got home. He didn’t say much else, however Wooyoung clearly clocked that he wasn’t okay because he was engulfed in a massive hug as soon as he walked through the door.

They collapsed on Yeosang’s bed and Wooyoung took great care in tucking him in with his duvet and blankets before draping himself over Yeosang’s body and softly asking if he wanted to talk. Yeosang refused initially, opting instead to snuggle closer to Wooyoung and let him put Brooklyn 99 on his laptop.

An hour later as they were both on the verge of falling asleep, Yeosang finally gave in and spoke into Wooyoung’s hair, so quietly that it was a mere breath. “I’m gay, Woo. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

Wooyoung didn’t respond at first, shifting to wrap his arms around Yeosang properly and resting his head on his shoulder. “I’m proud of you for telling me now angel, thank you,” He whispered.

Tears that Yeosang hadn’t even noticed building suddenly broke free, unbiddenly spilling down his cheeks. He reached up to scrub at his eyes as a sob escaped his lips, but Wooyoung gently grabbed his hand and moved it to his own back.

“Shh,” Wooyoung stroked his hair tenderly. “You can cry, it’s alright, you’re allowed to let it all out. I don’t mind.”

And so Yeosang let it all out, grasping tightly at Wooyoung’s shirt and sobbing into his chest as Wooyoung’s fingers continued to work lightly through his hair. Every now and again, Wooyoung would whisper soft reassurances that whatever he was feeling was okay and he was proud of him for being able to confide in him. Eventually, Yeosang calmed, though he kept his eyes closed and didn’t move from Wooyoung’s embrace. His body was heavy from exhaustion, so he allowed himself to slowly drift off, knowing if nothing else, he was safe and cared for in Wooyoung’s arms.

Maybe it was his sleep-addled brain playing tricks on him, but just before he lost consciousness, he felt warm lips press delicately on the top of his head with a murmur so quiet that he didn’t catch the words said.

He fell asleep with warmth blossoming through his chest and all the way down to the tips of his fingers and toes.

-+-

To Wooyoung, Yeosang was the moon.

He glistened with a gentle shimmer rather than a striking blaze, but was equally as captivating. His features were soft and delicate in a way that seemed otherworldly, because no mortal soul could possibly be so intensely beautiful. Once when they were kids, Yeosang was having dinner at his house and diligently brought their cleared plates over to the dishwasher after eating. Wooyoung’s mum had ruffled his hair affectionately and told him he was an angel, which made him blush at the praise. Of course, Wooyoung had taken to the nickname immediately, calling Yeosang ‘angel’ at every given opportunity. At first it was to annoy him because he found it funny how flustered and irritable Yeosang got whenever he said it. Several years down the line, he would insist that it was just a nickname that stuck (but maybe he also found it cute how Yeosang’s cheeks turned pink and hid behind his hair).

Yeosang had always been very introverted to the point where some people wondered how he and Wooyoung got along so well. He generally preferred to stay out of the limelight, content to live his life quietly without fussing about other people too much. To the unobservent, it might seem as if Wooyoung simply pestered Yeosang constantly to a generally impassive reaction. In reality, they missed the quirk of Yeosang’s lips as Wooyoung recounted a funny anecdote, or the playful glimmer in his eyes when he responded sarcastically, or the barely concealed snort of laughter as he aimed a pencil at Wooyoung’s forehead for any particularly ‘annoying’ comments. Perhaps he wouldn’t be deemed the most expressive person in the world, however it wasn’t in any way a negative thing. In fact, it made him all the more hilarious when he would lean over and make a witty comment under his breath with a completely straight face that sent Wooyoung into peals of laughter, causing people to look at him incredulously.

Ever since they had been young, Yeosang had been a comforting constant throughout his life whether they were together or not, similar to the moon that shines down on them even when it is daytime and cannot be seen. He was Wooyoung’s rock; a calm presence that kept him grounded when it felt like the world was ending (which could’ve been anything from losing his favourite toy to high school break ups, it really depended when they were talking here). Yeosang admitted to him that sometimes he liked to talk to the moon and confide in it because he believed it would keep his secrets safe. At the time, Wooyoung had pouted and poked at his cheek, whining about how Yeosang trusted a glowing rock more than him, to which Yeosang gave him a deadpan stare and said it was less annoying than he was. He later thought that he trusted and relied on Yeosang in quite the same way, relaxed enough to tell him anything and everything without fear of judgement. Because as blunt as Yeosang was, he was still considerate and made each one of Wooyoung’s worries feel legitimate, even if Wooyoung himself thought he was being stupid. On the other hand, Yeosang wasn’t the type to open up about what was weighing on his mind often. Instead, Wooyoung had taken to doing little things to cheer him up, like buying sweets he liked and sneaking them into Yeosang’s pockets with handwritten notes of encouraging messages, or texting him cute cat videos with captions about how Yeosang was way cuter or ‘you see that cat smothering that other cat with love? yeah that’s me @ u’. Yeosang would respond with unimpressed messages telling him to shut up, but a few days later he would always find a note tucked into his school bag with a drawing of a smiling character wearing a flower atop its head that Yeosang had dubbed ‘hehetmon’ and ‘thank you’ scrawled on the other side.

Wooyoung thought that Yeosang was the most radiant when he sang. It was something that he had been secretly very passionate about since the days when Wooyoung would insist on him singing along whilst he danced. See, Yeosang would grumble and put up a mild protest, yet as soon as he got going, he would relax into the song with a small smile on his lips. In fact, Wooyoung had caught him more than once singing the songs that he enjoyed dancing to in the mirror before he realised that Wooyoung had already arrived at his house to play. In Wooyoung’s very factual opinion, Yeosang had the most beautiful voice in the world (and no, that wasn’t just a childish exaggeration that he made when they were eight to give Yeosang confidence). Prior to his voice breaking, it was sweet and angelic, and there were many times in which Wooyoung would stop dancing to listen to Yeosang sing and watch his concentrated expression as he attempted to hit all the notes properly (at least, until Yeosang noticed and abruptly stopped, whining at him to stop staring). A few years down the line, when Wooyoung says Yeosang’s voice deepened, oh boy it had deepened. Suddenly, Yeosang had this rich, velvety voice that transferred perfectly to his vocals with gorgeous low, dulcet tones. He seemed rather shy with his new voice at first, but Wooyoung would encourage him to sing and hang on to his every word, complimenting him profusely on how enchanting he was and telling him he should start vocal lessons because if his voice was this beautiful already, he had to take advantage of it. Yeosang was initially unconvinced but he couldn’t underestimate Wooyoung’s stubbornness. Not long after he turned fifteen, Yeosang texted him to say that he was starting singing lessons and Wooyoung grinned, sending back an extreme amount of celebratory emojis and hearts and claims of him being a superstar one day.

Even with his lessons, Yeosang was reluctant to sing in front of people. Almost a year had passed before he mentioned to Wooyoung that his singing teacher was trying to convince him to enter their high school’s winter talent show, and he sort of wanted to, but he was really nervous about performing on a stage in front of a crowd. Wooyoung gasped, grabbing his hands excitedly and telling him he should absolutely give it a go because “the world needs to hear your beautiful voice, Sangie!” When Yeosang still looked uncertain, albeit slightly pink-cheeked from the compliment, Wooyoung snapped his fingers.

“I have an idea!” Wooyoung said earnestly. “How about we enter together? You sing whilst I dance, so then maybe being on stage will be less scary. We could perform BTS V’s Singularity, your voice would suit it so well!”

Yeosang’s eyes lit up, and he smiled shyly. “Actually… I like that idea. Would you really want to do that?”

“Definitely! It’s going to be so much fun!”

Over the following weeks before the talent show, the pair practised regularly on the wooden decking in Yeosang’s back garden. Wooyoung quickly memorised the choreography to Singularity (if he was honest, he had already been learning it because he had totally fantasised about Yeosang doing a cover of one of V’s songs now his voice was so deep) and Yeosang already knew the lyrics too. When Yeosang first sang it to him, perched on top of the picnic table, he was left speechless for a solid thirty seconds.

“Wow, finally I know what your off-switch is,” Yeosang chuckled, but Wooyoung could tell he was anxious for his reaction.

“You really are an angel,” Wooyoung blurted, making Yeosang’s eyes widen before he looked away, face reddening. “Seriously, you are going to blow everyone away after performing that.”

“Ah, I’m sure you’ll be the one to blow them away with your dancing.” Yeosang kicked at a stone beneath them sheepishly.

Pouting, Wooyoung shook his head. “We both will! They’ll be doubly blown away. You’ll be amazing, trust me.”

“I… Yeah, we will.”

And they were amazing, in Wooyoung’s totally unbiased opinion.

As they waited backstage for their turn, Yeosang looked a little queasy, shoulders uncharacteristically stiff as he tapped the side of his seat in a pattern which vaguely sounded like the beat of Singularity. Eventually, Wooyoung grabbed his hand to still him, tugging on it until Yeosang met his eyes.

“You’ve got this,” Wooyoung said softly. “We’ve practised hard, got the whole thing down perfectly, and your voice is fucking gorgeous. We’ll do this together, I believe in you.”

Yeosang nodded, swallowing thickly.

Abruptly, a stagehand hurried into the room, immediately fixating on the pair. “Jung Wooyoung, Kang Yeosang, you’re up now.”

Wooyoung pushed himself to his feet and pulled Yeosang up with him. “You ready?” he asked him, studying his face closely.

There was a newfound determination that flashed in Yeosang’s eyes. “I’m ready, let’s go.”

They pulled off the performance almost flawlessly (almost because Yeosang unexpectedly threw in V’s ad libbed “oh no” in the last chorus and Wooyoung was so entranced by how good he sounded that he momentarily forgot the dance move). He didn’t think it was possible for Yeosang to sing more beautifully, but his voice had been so deeply alluring that Wooyoung wished he could’ve sat down and watched Yeosang the whole performance. As the music finished and they bowed to enthusiastic applause, Wooyoung turned to look at Yeosang and was taken aback as he smiled at him widely, positively glowing underneath the stage lights. He was beautiful, and Wooyoung’s heart fluttered.

\---

As far as he knew, Yeosang had never really been the kind of person to date, or talk about crushes for that matter. In their early teens, Wooyoung would tell him about the girls in their classes that he found cute and fret about whether they would date him, and Yeosang would laugh at him and say that he could probably get any girl he wanted. Sometimes he had girls confess to him, and sometimes he would ask girls out himself, then they would be together for at most a month, sending cute texts and holding hands on the school field and stealing kisses behind the lockers, until they inevitably broke things off. Sometimes he would cry about it to Yeosang, and sometimes he would mope for a couple of days before getting on with life because relationships in early high school were never that serious anyway. Occasionally he would ask Yeosang if he liked any of the girls in their year, to which he would always receive a noncommittal shrug and change of subject. Since Yeosang genuinely just seemed uninterested, and possibly a bit uncomfortable, he never pushed the topic any further. He supposed if Yeosang ever liked someone enough to date them, he’d hopefully tell Wooyoung anyway.

Somehow, he wasn’t fully ready for Yeosang actually dating someone in high school. He knew that there were girls who found Yeosang attractive, giggling to each other about how pretty he was (and quite right too, he was very pretty), but he tended to politely turn down any advances. Needless to say, Wooyoung was rather shocked when Yeosang told him on the way home from school one day that a girl in their class had confessed to him via letter and he had agreed to go out with her. After Wooyoung got over his initial surprise, he grinned at Yeosang and pretended to wipe away a tear, teasing him about how his ‘best friend was growing up.’ Yeosang snorted and swatted at him lightly, and Wooyoung dodged him laughing as he tried to swallow down the uneasy feeling in his throat.

That evening, he lay in bed staring at the ceiling and wondering why he felt so off about Yeosang having a girlfriend. He’d been fine with the thought of it, encouraged it even, but now it had happened he couldn’t stop the prickling feeling when he imagined Yeosang holding hands with and kissing this girl. For god’s sake, he had kissed several girls himself; he had no right to be against Yeosang doing it. It wasn’t as if he even disliked Yoojung. She was an absolute sweetheart and Yeosang deserved to date someone as kind as her. But the thought of her being able to kiss him and he couldn’t…

Ah, that’s where the problem was.

He’d never really thought about his sexuality much, but now seemed as good a time as any. Padding over to his desk, he switched on his laptop and opened up an incognito tab, googling ‘how to tell if I like boys when I’m a boy’, then ‘am I gay quiz’, then ‘help I think I have a crush on my male best friend’.

An hour later, google had informed him that he was probably bisexual and definitely had a crush on his best friend. 

God, he was so screwed.

\---

It was not as if he was just going to take google’s word for it; after all, his parents had always told him you shouldn’t trust everything you see on the internet. However, once it had offered him that explanation, many of the things he had been feeling made sense. The reasoning that he had a crush on his best friend was surprisingly easy to accept, but came with a whole lot more complications in its wake that had him sulking at lunchtimes when Yeosang was sitting with Yoojung. He would watch them with narrowed eyes across the cafeteria as Yoojung giggled and let her hand rest on top of Yeosang’s, and he gave her an affectionate smile back. After a couple weeks, he wouldn’t have been shocked if his other friends had realised what was going on when San called him out once again for staring.

“It’s Yeosang’s first relationship,” Wooyoung would grumble, stabbing at his food irritably with his fork. “I’m just looking to make sure she’s treating him right.”

That excuse ran dry pretty quickly, but luckily San got the hint not to badger him further.

Barely a month had passed before Wooyoung received a text from Yeosang saying that he had broken up with Yoojung, and yes he was fine and he didn’t want to discuss it any more. He knew he was an awful friend for the feeling of relief that washed over him, and cursed himself as he sent a sympathetic text back and left the house to buy a packet of Yeosang’s favourite sweets to sneak into his bag the next day.

The thing about his friendship with Yeosang is that he never kept secrets from him. Ever. Maybe it was just Wooyoung generally being an open book, but he always felt weird if he purposefully didn’t tell Yeosang something. Yeosang knew everything about him and he was pretty sure he knew everything about Yeosang too, so it felt right to tell him about his sexuality, even if he refrained from mentioning the crush part because he didn’t want to make things too weird. He ended up admitting it one afternoon after a rather grueling round of Mario Kart (if he partially did it to distract Yeosang from Wooyoung’s embarrassing defeat, well, that remained to be seen). There was a nagging worry that he wasn’t sure what Yeosang’s attitude was towards people attracted to the same gender, but it left as fast as it arrived when Yeosang smiled and told him he was proud of him (he chided himself later for the thought, as if Yeosang of all people would be homophobic). He couldn’t help selfishly hoping that the confession of his sexuality might lead to one of Yeosang’s own, so he could better judge if he had a chance. It never came and his heart ached.

Wooyoung never got over his crush on Yeosang. It was quite frankly impossible when he saw him every day and was reminded of all the little things that he so desperately loved about him (the way his cheeks flushed and he hid behind his hair when he was flustered, and the way he scrunched his nose all cutely when he was concentrating hard on something, to name a couple). Eventually, he managed to simply accept it as part of his daily life and forced himself to pay no mind to the butterflies in his stomach.

Not long after his sixteenth birthday, Wooyoung got into his first relationship with a boy. Yeo Hwanwoong was a year older than him, top of his dance class, extraordinarily attractive and unapologetically very gay. It was honestly quite refreshing crushing on him- it made it a lot easier to ignore his feelings for Yeosang and instead swoon over this tiny dancer who had no qualms about performing dances of female artists and capturing every ounce of femininity and sexiness of the original routine. Whilst Wooyoung thought he had gotten a good grasp of reading Yeosang over the years, he couldn’t quite discern his reaction to him announcing that Hwanwoong had agreed to go on a date with him (although, to be fair, he had just screamed down the phone at him and left him little room to actually say much). But when Yeosang was a bit quieter than usual the next day and his smiles were a bit strained, Wooyoung couldn’t help wondering if it was related to his new relationship. And then he berated himself for being so concerned of Yeosang’s opinion on his dating life.

If Yeosang ever dated anyone else, he didn’t know about it. He presumed Yeosang would tell him if he did, so he just chalked it up to him not being interested in anyone and his general unwillingness to chat to people outside of their friend group. Life continued on; they started university, made new friends, Wooyoung went on dates, Yeosang became closer to their friend Jongho (who was in his last year of high school, but lived barely fifteen minutes from their university so they still saw him often). It was quite nice seeing Yeosang become so comfortable with Jongho; he deserved to have another friend outside of Wooyoung that he felt completely relaxed with.

He knew that Jongho and Yeosang were incredibly close, which is why it made it all the more shocking when Yeosang called him one evening on the way home from Jongho’s anxiously asking him if he could meet him in his room when he got back. It was obvious something was wrong and Wooyoung almost ran into two people in his dash to get to Yeosang’s room. Ten minutes later, the door was pushed open and Wooyoung practically threw himself at Yeosang as he walked inside, bringing him into a tight hug.

“I’m tired.” Yeosang mumbled, but made no effort to remove himself from Wooyoung’s arms. Nevertheless, Wooyoung nodded and guided him over to his bed, grabbing his laptop on the way and waiting for Yeosang to toe off his shoes to then arrange his pillows and blankets around him comfortably. Yeosang shifted over to press up against the wall which Wooyoung took as an invitation to join him in the space he had left, immediately looping a leg over Yeosang who latched onto his side.

“Do you want to talk about what happened or shall we just cuddle and watch some Brooklyn 99?” Wooyoung asked him softly.

Yeosang’s response was a fairly incoherent grumble, but he was pretty sure he caught “99” somewhere in there so he loaded up Netflix on the laptop and for the next hour and a half they lay there binge watching the most recent series.

Somewhere during that time, it seemed like Yeosang had dozed off, his face buried in Wooyoung’s hair, so he carefully placed the laptop aside with the intention of falling asleep too. He hadn’t expected Yeosang to suddenly speak, much less it be a quiet admittence that he was gay. A million questions ran through his mind at that moment, several relating to Jongho and what could have happened with him that had led to Yeosang coming out to him. Those could be addressed later though, he thought as he repositioned himself to hug Yeosang properly and whisper how proud he was. His heart ached as Yeosang sobbed into his shirt. In all his years of knowing him, he had never seen him break down like this. Yeosang had always been the strong one, not letting emotions get to him so intensely in the same way that Wooyoung did. But as he gently stroked the hair of the shaking boy in his arms, he realised that Yeosang had been strong for far too long.

“It’s okay, let it all out,” Wooyoung murmured, “I’ve got you, angel.”

He hated to think how much and for how long Yeosang must’ve been warring with himself over his sexuality to provoke this deep of a reaction. If nothing else, he hoped that this might mean Yeosang was finally accepting himself, and if not, well, Wooyoung would do everything in his power to reassure him of the wonderful, shining, beautiful person he was, no matter what.

After a while, Yeosang’s cries quietened and his breathing evened out. Wooyoung took a peek at his face to see his expression finally smoothed over and peaceful, and he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Before he could stop himself, he leant back in to kiss the top of Yeosang’s head. Three words slipped free from his lips in the softest breath.

“I love you.”

-+-

The sun and the moon had been best friends since the beginning of time. They were both brilliant and beautiful, yet they still longed to truly shine together.

Yeosang knew Jongho was fed up with him. Since Jongho was the only person who knew about his crush on Wooyoung, he was also the only person he could complain about it too (he had come out to the rest of his friendship group with Wooyoung’s encouragement, but he didn’t need them teasing him about his crush). And sure, Yeosang wasn’t the type of person to whine about his love life (or lack thereof), but when you’ve been forcibly shoving down any romantic feelings towards your best friend for the best part of six years, he felt like he deserved to whine just a little. He was pretty certain that Jongho regretted telling Yeosang he could vent to him about Wooyoung at this point. Not out of sadness due to their history together- they had broken up almost a year ago and Jongho himself had his sights set on another boy- but because Yeosang was complaining and not doing anything about it.

“Yeosang,” Jongho said exasperatedly, "it’s really not that hard. Just tell him you like him and be done with it.”

Lifting his head from the sofa, Yeosang fixed Jongho with a glare. “It is _that_ hard. I could be ruining a lifelong friendship!” This was a conversation they’d had several times before.

Jongho rolled his eyes, as he usually does. “Come on, you really think so lowly of Wooyoung that you believe there’s even a chance he would react negatively? Please, even if in some ridiculous turn of events he doesn’t feel the same way, it’s not going to change the way he acts around you. He wouldn’t want to lose your friendship either.”

“And then what?” Yeosang grumbled. “I’ll continue to be reminded of what an annoyingly beautiful and wonderful person he is and exactly why I fell in love with him for the rest of my life?” It was shocking to him how easily the words fell off his tongue now. He supposed he’d begrudgingly accepted it as part of him once he’d admitted it outloud.

Jongho attempted to give him a sympathetic look, but really he looked more irritated. “You need some closure at least, or at this rate you’re never going to get over him.”

“Wow, thanks.”

“Just being honest,” Jongho shrugged. “Not that you’ll need to get over him, it’s obvious he’s totally whipped for you, I don’t know how you can’t see it.”

“That’s because he’s not,” Yeosang insisted sullenly.

Jongho didn’t reply, but the heavy sigh he let out was enough of an answer.

\---

“Wooyoung, if this is about Yeosang then I’m walking out this door again.”

“Wha-!” Wooyoung pouted at San who was leaning against the doorframe of his bedroom with his arms crossed. “Why do you always assume that when I want to talk about something, it’s about Yeosang?”

San raised an eyebrow challengingly. “Is it not then?”

“Well no but-”

Shaking his head with a scoff, San turned to leave until Wooyoung stopped him with a shout.

“I’m thinking of telling him how I feel!”

“Oh?” San turned back, a devilish smirk on his lips. “Now that’s got me interested. It’s about time you did rather than moping every time you notice someone admiring him or whenever he’s affectionate with you.”

“I don’t _mope_ -”

San gave him a dirty look.

“Okay, maybe I mope a little bit but it’s not my fault he’s too damn pretty for his own good.” Wooyoung sighed dramatically, flopping back onto his bed.

“So what’s got you wanting to confess to him now? When are you going to do it?”

“Well.”

They fell into silence, San obviously expecting him to continue. Several moments passed.

“Well…?”

Wooyoung merely grunted in response.

“Woo, are you actually going to confess to him or not?”

“Maybe!” he said, throwing an arm over his face so he couldn’t see San’s disapproving stare. “I feel like after so long, I owe it to him to be honest about it. I don’t like not telling him stuff. I realised that I’m not gonna get over it without closure at this point.”

“That’s literally what I’ve been trying to tell you for the past year, man.”

“Evidently you didn’t tell me well enough then,” Wooyoung huffed.

When San spoke again, he was clearly straining to keep the frustration out of his voice. “Did you just call me in here to tell me you’re _maybe_ going to confess to Yeosang or were you going to expand any further on that?”

“I don’t know…” Wooyoung said dejectedly. “I know logically that he is the least likely person to be weird about me liking him, he won’t give a damn about it, but..” He grimaced. “I’m still so scared of rejection. Of course I’m still happy being best friends with him but I want more than that so badly.”

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” San said, his tone more gentle as he perched on the bed by Wooyoung’s feet. “Honestly, I don’t see any possible scenario of Yeosang rejecting you. He adores you, I’ve literally never seen him happier than when he’s around you.”

“You think so?”

“I know so,” San told him firmly. “However… If you want to try and find out what your chances might be beforehand, you could always ask Jongho. He’d probably know.”

Wooyoung frowned, unconvinced. “I considered it, but would Yeosang tell someone he used to date about his current crush? And Jongho’s protective as hell over Yeosang, I doubt he’d reveal a secret like that.”

“Perhaps, but if you tell him first that you like Yeosang then he’d be more likely to give you an indication either way,” San pointed out.

“What? No! I can’t do that.”

“Sure you can. Or I’ll do it myself,” He smirked, fishing his phone out of his pocket and navigating to his texts with Jongho until Wooyoung promptly tackled him.

“Noooo what if Yeosang is with him!”

“Isn’t Yeosang in class?” San watched in amusement as Wooyoung visibly deflated. “Look, if you really don’t want me to then I won’t. I think it is worth asking Jongho though, it’s a good start. And he’s trustworthy, he’ll be able to keep it a secret without being weird about it.”

“Fine, but I’ll text him myself,” Wooyoung said, grabbing his own phone from next to him and finding Jongho’s contact. He sent him a text asking if he could talk to him about something important and also rather private, so he needed to keep it quiet.

Jongho replied, telling him to go ahead half an hour later, after Wooyoung and San had moved to the dorm’s kitchen and were eating lunch. Wooyoung spent a good ten minutes typing and deleting his message, until San got fed up and leant over his shoulder to press send.

 **Wooyoung**  
okay so the thing is i really like yeosang and YOU CANNOT TELL HIM THAT but i was wondering if u knew if there’s any chance he .. yknow … likes me back in that way

The ‘read’ symbol popped up under the message almost instantly, but several minutes of Wooyoung anxiously about to vibrate out of his chair passed before he responded.

 **Jongho**  
lmao i knew it  
you should tell him  
immediately  
in fact why don’t you meet with him now

 **Wooyoung**  
NNOW??!?!?  
no way im not mentally prepared for that yet  
wait  
does this mean he does feel the same way or what

 **Jongho**  
idk guess u gotta find out for urself  
good luck  
i’ll tell yeosang to have a good time with u :)

 **Wooyoung**  
huh  
jongho pls be less vague  
jongho  
JONGHOOOOO  
JONGHO HELP IM HAVING A CRISIS HERE  
i will choke u in ur sleep

 **Jongho**  
i’d like to see u try

 **Wooyoung**  
touché good day to u sir

Wooyoung’s phone pinged with another text.

 **Yeosang**  
hey, do you want to meet up? jongho just told me i have to go and see you and then ran off so uh ???

He groaned, switching back to Jongho’s chat.

 **Wooyoung**  
NVM CHOI JONGHO IM GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU

 **Jongho**  
:)

“I suppose you’re going to go and meet Yeosang then?” San said in amusement after Wooyoung wordlessly slid his phone over to him to read his texts.

“I don’t know!” Wooyoung threw his hands up. “I’m not exactly mentally prepared to confess to him today!”

Thoughtfully, San picked up Wooyoung’s phone to look at his conversation with Jongho again. “I doubt Jongho would be so set on you confessing to Yeosang right away if he wasn’t sure it would go well.”

Wooyoung didn’t respond, mostly because he knew San was right but didn’t want to tell him that, and snatched his phone back.

 **Wooyoung**  
lmao very random but sure thing  
have u eaten ?? weren’t u just in class ???

  
 **Yeosang**  
i did but jongho met me outside and we were going to have lunch together  
i guess we aren’t anymore….?

 **Wooyoung**  
;;;;well i haven’t eaten lunch yet either  
we can grab something at the supermarket and sit in the park?

“We literally just ate lunch.”

“Shut the fuck up San.” Wooyoung glared at him.

 **Yeosang**  
sounds good  
see you there in 10?

  
 **Wooyoung**  
yep :D

\---

As Wooyoung made his way to the supermarket, he started to think he really should’ve asked Yeosang if he knew why Jongho had demanded that he meet up with him instead. That way he could determine whether he could just laugh it off and say he had no idea what Jongho was doing, or whether he had to steel himself for possible rejection.

Yeosang was already there when he arrived, leaning against the wall and typing rapidly on his phone, eyebrows furrowed. He looked up at Wooyoung’s call of his name and smiled slightly, raising his hand in greeting.

“Hey, how was your lecture?” Wooyoung asked. It was okay, he didn’t have to make anything weird, it wasn’t even definite that Yeosang knew how hopelessly in love with him he was.

“Good, our most recent essays were handed back and I got 95%, Professor Kim was very happy.” Even though Yeosang was still smiling, obviously rather proud of himself, Wooyoung could tell he was a little tense as they entered the shop. Whether that meant he knew something or not, he wasn’t sure, but he certainly wasn’t going to question it.

Wooyoung grinned at him. “Wow, well done! As expected from Mr Top of the Class,” He chuckled as Yeosang whacked his shoulder. “Let me buy you lunch as congrats! Although nothing too expensive please because I have approximately 10,000 won in my bank account.”

Shaking his head, Yeosang snorted, “Don’t worry, I was just planning on getting kimbap and an iced coffee if that is still in your budget.”

“Hmm, I suppose I can stretch it that far,” Wooyoung said after pretending to contemplate it for a long moment.

“Oh how generous of you.”

“I know, I’m the epitome of generosity.”

Wooyoung ended up buying them both ice creams as well because he felt bad getting Yeosang something so cheap (sure, it was February, but Wooyoung fully believed in fighting the cold with more cold).

They walked to the park chatting about their mornings before sitting down opposite each other on a picnic bench and eating their food in comfortable silence. It was peaceful, and Wooyoung hoped desperately that Yeosang wouldn’t question Jongho’s previous suspicious behaviour any further. He could imagine San yelling at him to get on with it and calling him a wimp, to which he would absolutely agree. Any previous courage that he’d had back in his dorm room was completely and utterly extinguished as he sat in front of Yeosang, a million worst case scenarios running through his head. He should just be happy with what he had at the present and not get too greedy lest it all go wrong and he lose the best thing he had in his life. What would he even say to Yeosang anyway? ‘Oh yeah haha I know you’re my childhood best friend who you trust completely but I’ve been in love with you for several years?’

“You’re eating your ice cream quite aggressively,” Yeosang said, eyeing the way that Wooyoung bit off a large chunk of ice cream without flinching at the cold on his teeth and chewed it somewhat irritably. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing. It’s fine,” Wooyoung said, cursing himself for being so visibly on edge.

“Hey, look at me.” Wooyoung lifted his gaze to see Yeosang looking at him earnestly. “Whatever it is, it’s alright. You know you can trust me.”

“I know I can and I do, I just…” Wooyoung tried to swallow around the growing lump in his throat. “It’s really not important.”

He didn’t understand why there was a brief flash of hurt in Yeosang’s eyes. He thought maybe he imagined it, because then Yeosang was reaching forwards to rest his hand gently on top of Wooyoung’s that had curled into a fist.

“Are you sure?” Yeosang ventured tentatively. “Jongho said you had something you wanted to tell me?”

Wooyoung’s stomach lurched, and he snatched his hand away before he could stop himself. “I don’t know what Jongho’s been telling you but it’s not true.” He stumbled to his feet, head spinning. “Sorry, uh, I’ve just remembered there’s something I need to do, I’ve got to go. Well done again on your essay, and I’m sorry.” With that, he dashed off back towards his dorm.

\---

Wooyoung didn’t hear from Yeosang the next day, or the day after that, and he was honestly too terrified to break the silence himself. When he got back to the dorm after running away from Yeosang, he made it into San’s room before bursting into tears. San told him he was a gigantic idiot but cuddled him until he pulled himself back together for his afternoon class all the same.

He was well aware that he was being an idiot and should approach Yeosang himself since he was the one that should be apologising, yet for the first time in his life he was uncertain what to say to him. As San pointed out to him, he really should’ve stuck around to talk things out with Yeosang properly and not just presume his reaction; he’s not dumb, he knows that. But to be fair to him, he was also a bit pissed at Jongho for springing that situation on him so suddenly when he wasn’t fully ready.

It was Saturday, and Wooyoung had previous plans with Yeosang to hang out with him later that afternoon once he’d finished his shift at work. He didn’t think that was happening now, and he wasn’t sure if he should even ask. When he checked his texts after his shift though, he saw that Jongho had messaged him.

 **Jongho**  
okay i know that i shouldn’t have interfered so abruptly before  
and i apologise for that  
but pls can you talk to yeosang he’s upset  
he accidentally saw the text about u liking him in my notifs before so i figured he needed to hear it from you asap

 **Wooyoung**  
he WHAT  
fuck

 **Jongho**  
yeah  
just pls talk to him  
san and i agree u two have been pining long enough

  
 **Wooyoung**  
god i dont even want to know what sans been telling u  
i’ll go talk to yeosang

 **Jongho**  
thank u  
good luck fr this time :)

 **Wooyoung**  
🖕

Guess he was seeing Yeosang this afternoon after all.

Wooyoung hurried back to his dorm from work, changing out of the cafe’s uniform and hopping into the shower. He stared at the droplets running down the wall in front of him blankly and breathed deeply, trying to calm down his mind which was screaming in panic and think logically.

Firstly, Yeosang was probably aware he liked him. Or at least was before? Wooyoung mentally kicked himself at how he told Yeosang it wasn’t important. The last thing he wanted him to think was that he was anything less than the most important person in his life.

Secondly, there was the issue of what he was actually going to say. He groaned, letting his forehead rest on the wall under the spray of the water. When it came to Yeosang and confronting his feelings for him, his mouth decided to stop functioning properly (see, literally two days previously). Yeosang deserved only the best and to understand the true extent of how special he was. Hell, he could write sonnets about how nice his laugh was and how beautiful his voice was (that is, if he knew how to write a sonnet), but all his brain would probably allow him in his presence would be a stuttered “you’re pretty.” It’s funny really, because in previous relationships he’d generally been the confident one who flirted easy and confessed first. The thought of confessing to Yeosang turned his mind to goop.

All of a sudden, an idea came to him and he lifted his head up so quickly that he whacked it on the shower head. He let out an embarrassingly feminine shriek of pain, but still switched off the water and stumbled out undeterred. He was on a mission now.

Once he was dressed, he sat down at his desk and rifled around to find some unused paper and a pen. If Yeosang was upset, then he was going to do what he always did; write him a note to cheer him up along with his favourite sweets (although, rather than slipping it into his bag discreetly, he’d just have to hand them to him).

There were probably a billion different things that he could write. He contemplated a list of all the things he loved about Yeosang, except that wouldn’t fit onto one small page, and then he thought about actually trying his hand at poetry, however all he could come up with was ‘roses are red, violets are blue, you’re so cute, I want to eat you.’

Eventually, he settled on something sweet and simple, but still quite poetic if he did say so. Pleased with himself, he folded it in half and jotted Yeosang’s name on one side with a doodle of his character hehetmon and some hearts, before putting it in his pocket alongside his wallet. San was just entering the building when Wooyoung left and cocked his head curiously at his purposeful stride.

“Yeosang,” Wooyoung said by way of explanation.

San wiggled his eyebrows and gave him a thumbs up. “Finally. Good luck man.”

The dorms that Yeosang lived in this year were a ten minute walk away from Wooyoung’s, with the supermarket conveniently on the way. Wooyoung bought a bag of Yeosang’s favourite sweets and continued on briskly before his newfound courage could waver. He realised belatedly as he arrived outside Yeosang’s dorm and took out his phone to call him down that he might not even be there, but it was a risk he had to take.

Yeosang picked up on the second ring.

“Hey, I know you’re probably mad at me but I’m outside your dorm building and I’d really like to talk to you if you wouldn’t mind coming down?” Wooyoung said in a rush.

To his surprise, Yeosang laughed. “I tried to be mad at you, it’s not working very well. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” And with that, he hung up.

Wooyoung stood there baffled, wondering if he had actually heard Yeosang correctly until the man in question emerged from the front doors of the building and approached him.

“Hi.” Yeosang gave him a small smile, though Wooyoung could tell it was slightly strained. His eyes were tired like he had barely slept in two days and he had applied light concealer underneath his eyes.

“Hi,” Wooyoung breathed back, resisting the urge to wrap his arms around Yeosang and never let him go. “I’m sorry, I’m an idiot.”

“That you are,” Yeosang hummed. Wooyoung didn’t have it in him to protest at his quick agreement. “But you’re here now.”

Wooyoung nodded, and fished out the note and sweets from his pocket to hold out to Yeosang, trying and failing to stop his hand from shaking. “Usually I wouldn’t be handing you these directly,” he chuckled. “I hope it can explain my feelings enough.”

Yeosang took the sweets and note from him gingerly. Wooyoung shifted on his feet as he unfolded the note and began reading it, studying his face closely. Unfortunately, Yeosang managed to school his expression into one of neutrality the whole time, which did absolutely nothing to quell Wooyoung’s anxiety.

Several long, excruciating moments passed, Wooyoung wondering how long it took to read a short note that barely spanned a side of A5. Then, he suddenly realised as Yeosang stared longer at the note that a couple of tears were trickling down his face.

“Yeosang?” Wooyoung whispered, reaching out to him hesitantly and stopping himself as his hand hovered just above Yeosang’s arm. “Are you okay?”

Yeosang looked up at him with glassy eyes. “You’re really… in love with me?” His voice was small, desperate, begging for confirmation of his words.

Wooyoung swallowed thickly and nodded. “Always have been.”

“I never thought…” Yeosang glanced back down at the note again. “When I accidentally saw the text you sent Jongho, I couldn’t believe it was real. I’ve spent years trying to ignore my feelings for you and to think they were actually returned…”

“You love me too?” Wooyoung found himself gasping in shock, even if it had mostly been confirmed already by the past couple of days of events.

Yeosang snorted. “Isn’t that obvious?”

“God, we’re both such idiots.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Yeosang pulled a face. “You more so though, making me think you didn’t actually like me the other day.”

“I’m sorry!” Wooyoung said with a grimace. “I panicked and I hadn’t prepared myself to tell you by then.”

“It’s alright, I thought about it later and realised it was unfair to spring that situation on you straight away. It doesn’t matter now.” Yeosang grinned up at him, taking his hand that was still hovering above his arm and intertwining their fingers, Wooyoung’s heart skipping a beat. Even with mussed hair, tear streaked cheeks and barely concealed dark circles, he was truly the most beautiful person that Wooyoung had ever laid eyes upon. “I have to say though, your note was very poetic.”

“Mm, what can I say? I’m a romantic who’s just so good at words.” Wooyoung winked at him with a smirk. “I thought the moon was a perfect comparison.” He relished in the way that Yeosang’s cheeks flushed pink.

“Well,” Yeosang said resolutely. “If I’m like the moon then you’re like the sun.”

“Oh?”

“Bright, eye-catching, beautiful, and you basically glow when you smile.” He shrugged. “Light of my life, and all that.”

Now it was Wooyoung’s turn to blush. “God, I love you.”

Yeosang smiled sheepishly, clutching his hand tighter. “I love you too.”

Wooyoung beamed, his heart swelling at the words that he may have heard from Yeosang a number of times, but now were weighted with a new meaning. “Hey, can I…” He trailed off, glancing down at Yeosang’s lips and back up to meet his gaze again.

“Come here.” Yeosang tugged him forward and finally, _finally_ , their lips met.

Wooyoung had shared many first kisses with people over the years. Some invoked that feeling of excitement, like fireworks were exploding in his heart, and some left him breathless like he had just run a marathon. But kissing Yeosang simply felt completely and utterly right, like a puzzle piece he didn’t know was missing fitting itself neatly in the empty space. His lips were slightly chapped, but so incredibly warm as Wooyoung licked into his mouth, determined to map every inch of Yeosang that he hadn’t been able to before. The warmth spread throughout his entire body, and he was pretty sure he was about to burst from joy.

Yeosang pulled away and narrowed his eyes at him. “You’re smiling too much for me to kiss you.”

Wooyoung chuckled, drawing him back in for a hug. “Sorry angel, I’m just so happy right now.”

He felt Yeosang laugh against the crook of his neck. “Yeah, me too.”

The sun and the moon were in love, and together they shined.

-+-

_To my angel Yeosangie,_   
_I know I said that it feels weird keeping things from you, but I have a secret that I still haven’t told you. I’m in love with you and yeah that’s kind of scary to write because it’s such a big declaration but I realised that my feelings for you go far past ‘I really really like you.’ I was thinking of a pretty way to say what you are to me, and I realised you are my moon. You’ve been there for me as long as I can remember, and even as we changed growing up you have always been my comfort and I trust you more than anyone. You’re beautiful inside and out and nothing glows prettier than you do._   
_Obviously I respect it if you just want to stay friends, it’s whatever you’re comfortable with (but it would be really nice if we ended up being something else too maybe but only if you want to!!)_   
_I hope you always know that I’m so grateful to have you in my life and I hope you will always be a part of it._   
_Lots of love from Wooyoung ♡_

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading !! pls let me know what you think and leave kudos if you enjoyed <3 follow me on twt for snippets of wips & me crying over ateez [woosanger](https://twitter.com/woosanger)


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